WWTNS? Postpones "Casa Abierta" Fundrasier until July 11th
By: A.A. Cristi May. 28, 2020
What Will the Neighbors Say? is thrilled to announce they are pairing with Puerto Rican LGBTQIA+, trans, non-binary and anti-racist art collective, House of Grace, for Casa Abierta, a digital fundraiser.
The event will help raise crucial funds for housing and essential services for trans/non-binary folx on the island, especially pressing in the face of COVID-19. The event will be held over Zoom from 4pm-7pm EST on Saturday June 6th, and will be free, with donations encouraged. Tickets are available via Eventbrite here.
The bilingual variety event, curated by WWTNS? Co-Artistic Directors Jorge Morales Picó, James Clements, Ana Cristina DaSilva and Sam Hood Adrain alongside House of Grace founder María José De Les Ángeles, will be hosted by Puerto Rican artists and frequent collaborators María Victoria Martinez and Xavier Reyes. It will be a colorful, lively and invigorating event, dedicated to creating a queer-and-trans positive digital space. Artists will join the Zoom to perform from across Puerto Rico, the United States and Europe over the course of the mini-festival of performance, which will also include interactive workshops.
Confirmed acts include a stand-up comedy set by Suni Reyes, poetry from Pedro De León and Karl Michael Iglesias, gender-bending performance art from Ashton Muniz and music from Kathryn Allison, LuisGa Nuñez, Eduardo María, Zulienette Ralat and Xavier Reyes. Interactive workshops include a cocktail masterclass with WWTNS? Resident Artist Pablo Calderón-Santiago, a salsa class led by Bianca Medina and live painting by Beatriz Miranda. Further acts and workshops will be announced in the coming days. Latinx costume designer and artist Carla Posada was commissioned to create original artwork for the event.
María José De Les Ángeles is a local transfeminine artist and activist, and these funds will allow her to continue her essential work on the island as the founder of House of Grace. The trans/non-binary community has experienced a disproportionate impact from COVID-19, as well as continued discrimination and violence. The donations will be contributed to the "Bakeo pa' sobrevivir: Alcancía Brigada Cuir," an Emergency fund ran by Espicy Nipples, la Sombrilla Cuir and House of Grace, all transfeminist-led social justice groups working towards black, trans and queer liberation on the island. Morales Picó stated that "María José's advocacy is well known in Puerto Rico, and I am so proud to be a small part of her work." Clements added, "the House fits perfectly within the criteria which selected the non-profits supported by other WWTNS? benefits." "We first met María José when we interviewed her for our Puerto Rico project, "Agua, Vida y Tierra," last year, and have been desperate to work with her ever since," stated DaSilva. "We are thrilled about this collaboration," noted Hood Adrain.
What Will the Neighbors Say? is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit company that creates theatre that examines historical, social, political and economic narratives that have been disregarded, misrepresented, or otherwise untold in order to provoke discourse in our audience and community. WWTNS? maintains a consistent commitment to diversity, arts education, community outreach, and artistic experimentation.
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